Thursday, September 30, 2010

At this point you're probably scratching your head and saying "Who is Switch Style and why is Chip posting this"? I read about this band in a zine in 95 or 96 (possibly Hardware) and they were described as "if Strife were from Japan". I loved (love) Strife so I was pumped but never followed up on ordering the record. Fast forward to 2006 and our dear friend EMS (Brother's Keeper, Surprise Attack Records) posts their 7 inch on his blog, Coregasm. I was finally able to hear it and it had been worth the wait. 4 songs of total Strife/Judge influenced hardcore with a touch of "Lookinglass..." era Snapcase. Now on my second trip to Tokyo this past April, Im browsing the Used bins at Disk Union (so much amazing music, you have to see it to believe it) with my friend Koba and I come across the CD version of the 7 inch. He tells me its quite rare, not too many copies were pressed and that I should pick it up (like I needed him to tell me that). So after 14 years, I was finally the proud owner of a copy of the Switch Style EP.Some time later, the band released an EP and "switched their style" (see what I did there?) going for more of a radio friendly sound yet still aggressive. By the time they released their full length, they were a 3 piece and playing Jimmy Eat World influenced rock. I have both of those records and I need to go back and give them a listen again. Im curious to see if this band released anything else when they were in their Strife worship phase. A demo perhaps? If anyone has any info on the band or about any other releases, please get in touch.EMS also has this available on Coregasm so if prefer the sound of vinyl ripped to MP3, check out his post with some additional information.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I apoligize for the lack of content lately. Ive been working nights as well as preparing for my wedding next month so its been a little hectic. That said, today I bring you a Shelter shirt I picked up on my last trip to Tokyo. If you ever happen to make a trip out to Japan, make sure to hit up Disk Union, a series of record stores which cater to different genres per store. The 3 floored store in Shinjuku has 2 floors dedicated to just metal...pretty amazing. Anyway, I managed to find this sitting on a rack, marked as Used in the Shibuya store. It only cost me about 800 yen which is roughly about $9 US give or take. This was printed for the Quest For Certainty record and features the original cover art that Equal Vision Records released. Back print has the record title...solid pick up for such a small price. Im a big fan of navy blue (sorry Brian) and the lighter blue I feel compliments it well. Ive seen this on Ebay every so often so hit up our friends the Tee Till Death crew and get them to hunt it down for you. Solid shirt from a great band.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

When Unbroken played at the Glass House in Pomona, CA for the California version of the Burning Fight release show, Indecision Records had 522 copies of a triple LP set containing Unbroken's entire discography. They quickly sold out that day, and some unscrupulous individuals were selling them for $150 on ebay the next day. Well, there's a new pressing of the triple LP set available now over at Indecision Records for anyone that missed out on the original version.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

If you didn't already know, Bandcamp recently started charging fortheir service. Originally when we learned about this we thought,"streaming and downloading tons of music can cost a fortune at thelevel they're doing it, so you can't blame them." But then we saw theamount they were charging: 15% for digital sales and 10% (for now) forphysical. Well we were pretty disappointed, especially with thepercentage they were taking from physical sales. They have nothing todo with physical sales, and it's mind boggling how they justify this.

Bandcamp was a great service that allowed small bands and labels todistribute their music cheaply. Now they're a great service looking tomake some serious coin. Well, here at Limited Pressing, we're notconcerned about serious coin. With this in mind, we've done threethings:

First, we launched our digital download promotion page that showsexactly what we're capable of and how cost effective we've made it($10 for 400 downloads, $20 for 1000 downloads). Check outhttp://limitedpressing.com/digital for more information about ourdigital download capabilities.

Next, we decided to run a promotion to help out all of the bands thatBandcamp stuck it to with this 10% (soon to be 15%) transaction fee onphysical sales. For the next two weeks, if you sign up for a bandstore it's free for life. Not six months. Not a year. Free for life.As long as you want the store open, it's yours.

Lastly, we decided to make sure our current band stores were takencare of. So over the next few days we'll be making your store free forlife as well. Any automatic payments received between now and thenwill be refunded.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Unrestrained just posted the song, "A Burden's Weight", from this new split on our Myspace page, and here's the split info from the Superfluous website:"the inventors of the PNA (Positively Negative Attitude) are back! magdeburg's chaos-violence-machine REBARKER, bring us six new songs on this record that rather resemble pissed off all-out-war blasts than traditional hardcore songs. coming a long way, this five piece has perfected its mix of 90's hardcore, Bremen-style madness and (the very few good) screamo, combining all of these influences with their unique approach of playing raw hardcore fueled by desperation, rage and disappointment. being compared to LOXIRAN, THE SWARM and TRAP THEM in the past, this powerhouse proves once again that the edge has not gone dull.

portland's UNRESTRAINED name "the passion and intelligence of the 1990's hardcore movement" as one of their main influences. while they do sound somewhat like a modern mix of THREADBARE and HARVEST, they are by no means stuck in the past. lambgoat-dot-com reviewed one of their recent efforts as follows: "(the band) showcases a slightly more discordant approach with a touch of metallic influence that is reminiscent of '90s hardcore à la Indecision. And, oh yeah, they nail the sound." nuff said!

this record is limited to 313 copies. all records are hand-numbered and come with a cut-out cover.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Here's an interesting t-shirt that was printed as Strife began to really gain momentum. While its pretty common place for bigger bands to ask for guarantees now, at the time apparently it wasn't very well looked upon for Strife to do. At first glance, one would assume that this was printed after Strife chose to no longer be considered a straight edge band with the release of their "Angermeans" album but this is actually from 1997 when they were straight edge. From what I remember hearing, this was printed by the guys at The Attitude Shop, a company that made straight edge and ARA shirts (Ill post their catalog soon). If anyone has more info, please pass it along. I'd also love to hear the story behind the New Jersey date (I'm assuming it was canceled).

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

As requested in the 'Requests and Reposts' section in the sidebar, here are 3 of the AFTeRSHOCK split 7"s. All of these are with Japanese bands, 2 with State Craft and 1 with Dive.

First off is the 1st split 7" with Dive, released on S.I.H. Records out of Japan in 1998. Besides an early version of 'Traversing The Gap', which would later be re-recorded for their 'Through The Looking Glass' full-length, AFTeRSHOCK do a cover of Youth Of Today's 'We Just Might' on here. Weird choice perhaps, but they pull it off well, giving the song an AFTeRSHOCK make-over. Dive's track 'Divine Rain' rocks as well, making this a great split. There's also a 2nd split 7" with Dive, also released on S.I.H. Records out of Japan, but I don't have it unfortunately.

As mentioned above, AFTeRSHOCK also did 2 split 7"s with State Craft, another Japanese band, they released several records including a full-length on Good Life Records. Both of these split 7"s were released in 1999 on AFTeRSHOCK singer Toby Dutkiewicz's own Devil's Head Recordings label. The first one features an early version of 'Constructive Deconstruction', which would later be re-recorded for the 'Five Steps From Forever' MCD. The State Craft track, 'Forever Yours', is a sweet metalcore song, typical of their style. This song would also be re-recorded, for their 'To Celebrate The Forlorn Seasons' full-length from 2000.

The 2nd split with State Craft was the first in a series of 3 split 7"s of hardcore/metalcore bands covering Slayer, called 'When Angels Shed Their Wings'. All of these 7"s feature cover-art done by Shepard Fairey. AFTeRSHOCK covers 'Sex, Murder, Art' from the 'Divine Intervention' album and State Craft 'Spirit In Black' from the 'Seasons In The Abyss' album. The other 2 splits are One King Down & Brother's Keeper (#2) and The Acacia Strain & Loyal To The Grave (#3), both of which are still available from the Devil's Head webstore.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Tickets are now available for the Morning Again reunion show. In case you missed the information we posted, you can get more or less everything you need right here. The show is $10 for 8 bands on 2 stages. Im really excited that this is actually happening and I hope that many of you can make it out the show. As more info is passed along to me, Ill have it posted.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

I apologize for my lack of updating recently. Im preparing for my wedding as well as working nights now so its been pretty hectic. Today, I bring you an interview with Baltimore's Torn Apart. This was conducted in 1997 and printed in issue #8 of I Stand Alone, one of my favorite zines. Justin did a killer post for them about 2 years ago uploaded both their 7 inch as well as their first EP, both released by Life Sentence Records in the mid 90s. In case you missed that, you can get them by clicking here.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Jake here with another personal post. I turned 40 last month (August 12) and I contemplated doing a personal post on that day but ultimately decided against it. However, it's been quite a while since I've actually written anything of my own for this webzine/blog, so I figured that I'd do that now.

Even though my actual involvement in the hardcore scene in general is very limited now and confined almost exclusively to the internet, I am still VERY grateful to be involved in it. Music is by far my #1 passion in life and I am especially passionate about hardcore music being as how it's been a part of my life for a quarter of a century now. The fact that '90s hardcore is starting to garner the same respect and appreciation that '80s hardcore has enjoyed for a long time now pleases me to no end as even though I grew up on a steady diet of '80s hardcore as a teenager, the hardcore bands that I listened to and attended the shows of from the early to the mid '90s are the ones that had the biggest impact on me and my life.

In closing, I'd just like to thank Chip and Justin once again for making me a contributor to this webzine/blog over a year ago. I'd also like to thank everyone who is reading this as well. As corny as it sounds, after my wife, my dogs and a handful of both my family and friends, Stuck In The Past has been one of the very few bright spots in my life since getting laid off last November.